Sunderland in Tyne and Wear

Visit Sunderland and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. The county's largest town grew out of three settlements at Wearmouth: Monkwearmouth, North of the river under the monks of Durham; Bishopwearmouth on the south bank, which belonged to the Bishop of Durham; and Sunderland to the East, which had been “sundered” from the monastery founded in 674. Although its origins are ancient, the town achieved size only with the Industrial Revolution. This has been a ship-building and coal-exporting town since the 14th century. Glass-making became the first other industry in the 17th century. The 18th century brought potteries, a theatre and the Wear-mouth Bridge (replaced in 1929). This was one of the first cast-iron bridges, and the biggest, with a span of 236 ft. It was originally designed by Thomas Paine, author of The Rights of Man, for Philadelphia, Pa. The 19th century was one of rapid growth and booming trade with new docks, the railway, the development of marine engines, and the erection of numerous public buildings. It is famous today for a first division football team. It still makes traditional stained glass but also modern ovenproof glassware. Sir Basil Spence designed the £3 million civic centre near Mowbray Park.

Sunderland prides itself on a reputation for friendly, civic-minded and forward-looking people. It pioneered in developing the Empire Theatre as a social service to bring the arts to the people, with opera, films, ballet and drama, drawing large audiences. Its technical college was the first in the country to offer sandwich courses. The Museum contains an important collection of local pottery and glass, including the Rowland Burdon collection of Sunderland lustre ware. There is also the James Wilson Collection of English silver from the 15th to the 19th century. Models, paintings and prints of locally built ships are also on display. Other exhibits call attention to the inventions of native sons: Dr William Reid Clanny's miners' safety lamp and Sir Joseph Wilson Swan's electric lamp. To see Sunderland as a whole, go to Mow-bray Park in the centre where, near the bronze statue of General Sir Henry Havelock, hero of the Indian Mutiny (who was born at Ford Hall nearby), there is a panoramic view of town, docks and sea. Roker and Seaburn on the northern edge of modern Sunderland give the populace its own seaside resort area.